Mistletoe & Steamboats
by Marte50
Summary: One Shot - Additional Scene to "Santa in the Slush" episode. Booth gets to even the score!


(_This fits in at the very end of the SITS episode and picks up in the middle of Booth and Brennan's phone call while he and Parker are outside the prison fence_)

"Go to the window and open up the blinds," said Booth. "I have a little something for you."

Brennan opened the blinds to see Booth and Parker standing beside a fully decorated tree with lights powered by Booth's car.

"Hey, everyone, it looks like we got our tree after all," she said, as everyone rushed to the window with squeals of delight from Hayley and Emma.

"I love my gift, Booth," Brennan said softly into her phone as she smiled, meeting Booth's intent gaze in the distance. Suddenly, instead of saying goodbye, she said, "Can you wait a few minutes, I'll be right out."

"I'll be back in a moment, Dad," she said, and rushed out the trailer door, grabbing her coat on the way. It took a few minutes to make it through security to the nearest exit but soon found where Booth had parked outside the trailer's enclosure fence.

As she walked towards them, Parker excitedly said, "Hi, Bones!"

"Hey, Parker," she replied.

"Are you still going to Africa?" he said. Brennan exchanged a look with Booth.

"Yes, but I decided to postpone my flight by a couple of days," Brennan explained with a smile.

"I knew you wouldn't disappoint your family," Booth said.

"So how did you talk Rebecca into letting you have Parker for Christmas," Brennan asked.

"Parker, here," Booth explained as he looked affectionately down at his son, "decided to take matters into his own hands and ran away. He found the nearest police officer, told him he was lost and needed to find his father who worked with the FBI. I called Rebecca to let her know he was fine and I'm taking him out to Vermont tomorrow afternoon."

"Wow," said Brennan as she watched Parker grin impishly through his father's telling of his adventure. She smiled as she recognized Parker's grin was an exact duplicate of one she had often seen on Booth's face.

"Well, I'm sure you will have a great time with your dad, Parker," Brennan said.

"I will," Parker said excitedly.

"I, ummm, should be getting back," Brennan said as she leaned down to give Parker a hug, "Merry Christmas, Parker."

"Merry Christmas, Bones," Parker replied.

She turned towards Booth and stepped into his arms for a hug, "Thank you, Booth. The tree was very thoughtful."

For a moment, Booth's embrace tightened around her. When she gently pulled away, she gazed into his smiling eyes. He quickly reached over to the tree beside him, and picked up a small sprig of mistletoe to hold over her head.

"My turn," he said, softly. He leaned in to kiss her without giving her much opportunity to protest. After all, she hadn't given him the chance to escape during yesterday's mistletoe set-up with Caroline Julian. He remembered his surprise at the change in Brennan then and couldn't deny his own response.

As their lips met, Brennan felt the cold of the day disappear, her arms seemed to move by themselves around his neck while Booth dropped the mistletoe in his hand to bring his arms around her more securely. After yesterday's kiss, she'd also had the unsettling realization that she wasn't in complete control of her feelings for Booth. Somehow, that "line" didn't seem all that important, at the moment.

Their second kiss quickly deepened as if picking up where the first left off. Teasing her lips apart with his own, Booth felt Brennan respond to his touch as the world around them seemed to fall away. Steamboats lead the flotilla that soon included 4 mast sailing ships, frigates, aircraft carriers and anything else that floats - maybe even a rubber duckie or two.

They were, however, reluctantly startled back to reality by hearing, "eeewwwwww! Dad, let's go, I'm cold" from Parker.

As they parted, laughing, Booth said, "Merry Christmas, Bones", giving her another kiss, quick but in no way lacking in passion.

"Merry Christmas, Booth", Brennan said as she stepped away from him.

She turned and started walking back to the guard station, giving Booth and Parker a last wave goodbye as Booth unplugged the tree lights and packed everything away. She glanced back at the trailer window and realized the show everyone had seen. The window revealed big grins on Max, Russ and Amy's faces and silent giggles from the girls, all of them waving as Booth drove away. Returning to the trailer, she felt a soft smile on her own face that couldn't be erased.

One thing she knew for certain...telling Angela about the first kiss was going to be difficult enough. She wasn't sure how she was going to bring up their second. She smiled to herself and suddenly decided she wanted to keep this one all to herself but knew that Angela would eventually find out. She always does!

A/N: After that bathtub scene, I couldn't resist editing this to include a rubber duckie or two.


End file.
